US3738482A

US3738482A - Flexible bag package article

Info

Publication number: US3738482A
Application number: US00213755A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Cwikla
Original assignee: Union Carbide Corp
Current assignee: Viskase Corp
Priority date: 1971-12-29
Filing date: 1971-12-29
Publication date: 1973-06-12
Anticipated expiration: 1990-06-12
Also published as: DE2263218C3; SE7502966L; JPS537877B2; GB1404792A; BR7209181D0; FR2167147A5; SE393965B; SE393964B; CH568884A5; JPS4881697A; DE2263218A1; DE2263218B2; AR208053A1; CA997308A

Abstract

A package article of flexible packaging bags such as used in the meat packing industry in conjunction with automatic and semiautomatic packaging apparatus is made by assembling a multiplicity of flattened stacked flexible bags on a wicket which may be canted to imbricate the bags, securing the wicket with an inner carton element and enclosing and securing the wicketed stacked bags and the inner carton element in an outer carton element.

Description

A United States Patent 1191 Cwikla FLEXIBLE BAG PACKAGE ARTICLE [75] Inventor: Joseph M. Cwikla, Hickory Hills, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Union Carbide Corporation, New

York, NY.

22 Filed: Dec. 29, 1971 211 App]. No.: 213,755

[52] US. Cl. 206/57 A, 211/57, 248/100 [51] Int. Cl B65d 85/00 [58] Field of Search...; 206/57 R, 57 A;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,406,818 10/1968 Barnett ..206/57A [111 3,73%A2 June 12, 1973 2,925,175 2/1960 Williamson et a1. 206/57 A X Primary Examiner-Samuel B. Rothberg Assistant ExaminerSteph E. Lipman Attorney-Paul A. Rose and John F. Hohmann [57] ABSTRACT A package article of flexible packaging bags such as used in the meat packing industry in conjunction with automatic and semiautomatic packaging apparatus is made by assembling a multiplicity of flattened stacked flexible bags on a wicket which may be canted to imbricate the bags, securing the wicket with an inner carton element and enclosing and securing the wicketed stacked bags and the inner carton element in an outer carton element.

8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures The present invention relates to a package article and more particularly to a package of flattened stacked flexible packaging bags made of plastic or the like material of the type customarily used in the meat packaging industry and in which the bags are held on a wicket which is in turn secured by an inner carton member with an outer carton member enclosing and securing the bags, the wicket and the inner carton member to complete the assembled article.

Packaging operations in industry are of significant import and interest towards promoting the rapid, efficient and economical packaging of products for the market. Food packaging generally and the meat packing industry in particular require additionally the strict maintenance of sanitary conditions. Automatic or semiautomatic packaging techniques have been developed towards achievement of these desired goals. semiautomatic packing techniques, that is to say those requiring the cooperation of a human operator with a machine, are uniquely of interest to the meat packing industry since the products being packaged frequently are not exactly alike as to size, shape and weight, a circumstance militating against fully automatic packing. To the extent that food products, meat cuts and the like for example, are at least sufficiently alike in size, shape and weight in a given series to permit the use of packaging bags of the same size and material, some degree of automation in the packaging operation is possible. US. Pat. No. 3,552,090 to Roberts et al. and the copending application of Kupcikevicius et al., Ser. No. 173,960, assigned to the same assignee as this application are illustrative of such semiautomatic techniques and apparatus. To a much lesser degree, the automatic part of a packaging process may take the form of relatively facile availability of one bag at a time from a bag supply source.

Whatever the degree of complexity of the apparatus and techniques employed in a packaging operation involving food, meat products in particular, it is of the utmost importance that the supply of packaging bags be maintained in a sanitary condition and that the bag dispensing action be accomplished with facility and without bag waste or the incidental production of torn bag scraps which interfere with smooth and efficient operation. While these desirable characteristics are very important in even the simplest modes of semiautomatic packaging, they are of much greater importance in the more fully automated modes such as for instance those involving opening the bags one at a time with an air stream for insertion of a product unit into each bag sequentially. In these more automated techniques the relatively higher packaging speed necessitates a sanitary, continual and consistently reliable bag supply arrangement. Bags for such use, irrespective of the complexity of the particular packaging technique, are customarily supplied to the user in bulk packages which must be opened and the bags loaded by hand into the bag dispensing portion of the apparatus. Where such bags are provided with holes for wicket mounting, the bags must be manipulated to align the holes and thereby facilitate wicket insertion. This, of course, involves considerable human handling with attendant possibilities of contamination due to accidental drops as well as the handling per se. It is also important, more so on the more fully automated apparatus, that the bag installation on the apparatus be made with the care necessary to insure smooth continual bag dispensing action without binding or tearing malfunctions which cause process interruptions if not complete shut downs.

Up to the time of the present invention, the industry has not had an entirely satisfactory arrangement for the uninterrupted, rapid, sanitary and faultless supplying and mounting of wicket held bags for use in packaging operations.

It is thus the principle object of the present invention to provide a package article of flattened stacked wicket held flexible packaging bags secured on a wicket, which bags can be readily loaded into a bag dispensing station of a packaging operation with facility and little or no human contact with the packaging bags themselves.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a package of bags which are wicket secured and aligned, that is with a holding wicket in the bag wicket holes included in the package article.

Another and important object of the invention is to provide a package of bags which is easily assembled, handled, transported, stored, opened and installed ready for use and which affords an exceptionally high degree of protection against bag damage and contamination.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a package of wicketed packaging bags which is readily installed in a bag dispensing section of automatic packaging apparatus in precise alignment and register with other componentry of the apparatus.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a unitary packaged article of packaging bags which can be assembled with other like units into a larger package and readily unpacked to suit bulk handling, transport, storage and ultimate use requirements.

In general the present invention comprehends a package article comprising, in combination a multiplicity of horizontally flattened stacked flexible packaging bags, each bag having at least one ply provided with wicket holes, a wicket having a substantially horizontal portion disposed to effect bearing contact with a portion of an upper surface of the topmost bag of said multiplicity of bags when an inner carton element is removed and wicket legs extending perpendicularly with respect to said center portion through the wicket holes and projecting beyond the wicket holes in the lower ply of the bottommost bag of the multiplicity of bags, an inner carton element or tab panel disposed flat atop the multiplicity of flattened stacked bags provided with a tab member foldable around the wicket substantially horizontal portion, and an outer carton element or tray folder foldably enclosing the bags, the wicket and the inner carton element.

A package article according to the present invention may advantageously have the wicket disposed in a canted orientation and the flattened stacked bags imbricated according to the canted orientation of the wicket.

It is also a further improvement in a package article according to the present invention to provide a liner which may be interposed between the multiplicity of bags and the carton elements or, alternatively, between the assembly of the multiplicity of bags and the inner carton element and the outer carton-element.

A still further advance in the art is constituted in an assembly of package articles according to this invention enclosed in a larger carton package or shipping container to facilitate bulk handling, transport, storage, ready unpacking and ultimate use of the packaged bags.

The foregoing and other additional objects and features of the invention will be more fully understood from the ensuing detailed description and the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an unopened package article according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the FIG. 1 article with the tray folder element opened,

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the FIG. 1 article with the tray folder element opened, the tab panel element removed and the wicketed bags partly unpackaged,

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an assembly of FIG. 1 articles partly removed from a larger shipping container,

FIG. 5 is a plan view ofa development ofa tray folder element according to the invention,

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a development of a tab panel element according to the invention and FIG. 7 is a plan view of a packaging bag.

With reference to the drawings, a package article, shown generally as 11, according to the invention comprises a multiplicity of flattened stacked flexible packaging bags 13 made of plastic or the like material with an uppermost or top bag 15 atop the bag stack and a bottom bag 17 bottommost of the stack. A typical bag 19 is shown in FIG. 7 of the drawings and may be made from extruded tubular plastic material such as polyethylene. A bag 19 is formed by arcuately cutting a flattened extended tubular plastic film into desired bag lengths and heat sealing one arcuate cut to define a bag bottom 21, a bag upper ply 23 and a bag lower ply 25. Upper ply 23 is further out to define an arcuate lip 27 and to expose a portion of the inside bag surface of the lower ply 25 which is pierced by punching or other suitable means to form wicket holes 29. A multiplicity of individual bags 19 are arranged to form a stack of bags 13 with the wicket holes 29 in substantial register as between bags to permit the insertion therethrough of the legs 33 of a wicket 31. The wicket 31 is fabricated of rigid metal rod or wire and is formed to provide, in addition to legs 33, a substantially horizontal portion 37 extending centrally of and perpendicularly to the legs 33, and wicket shoulders 35 extending upwardly of the legs 33 and horizontal portion 37 and connecting these parts as shown. Other forms of wickets may be used in package articles according to this invention with equal facility.

A stack of wicketed bags 13 is arranged on the bottom panel 41 of a tray folder element 39 precut and formed to provide, in addition to the bottom panel 41, side panels 43 and closure panels 45. Tray folder element 39 may advantageously be formed to include a hole 47 to facilitate the pulling and removal of a package article 11 from a bulk package carton or shipping container 59 as illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings. A tab panel element 49, precut and formed to provide a tab member 51 is placed atop the topmost bag 15 of the stacked bags 13 with the tab member 51 passing between the topmost bag lower ply 25 upper surface and the wicket horizontal portion 37 between the wicket legs 33. Tab member 51 is bent or folded up and back approximately 180 around wicket horizontal portion 37 onto the upper surface of tab panel element 49. The

wicket is then canted to imbricate the bags and the tab panel element thereon and to substantially reduce the vertical height from leg 33 ends to shoulders 35 of the wicket. With the wicket, bags and tab panel element 49 thus in place on the bottom panel 41, the tray folder element 39 is foldably closed along precreased lines between the bottom and side panels and the side and closure panels and the closure panels are taped for in stance by tapes 53 or otherwise secured closed. The basic unit package article 1 1 is thus complete, with the bags wicketed and the wicket secured at the top with tab member 51 of inner carton element 49 wrapped around the wicket horizontal portion 37 and the ends of the wicket legs 33 immobilized against the inner surface of the tray folder elementbottom panel 41.

In order to provide additional protection to the bags 13, particularly when a significant amount of handling or long distance transport is to be expected, it is advantageous to interpose a liner57 between the assembled stack of bags and the carton elements as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings. The liner may be an open ended bag of plastic or the like, of sufficient size to accommodate the bag stack and be provided with a closed end which may be taped, for example with tapes 55, or otherwise secured to the finger hole 47 edge of bottom panel 41 of the tray folder element 39. Alternatively, a liner 57 may be interposed between the assembled bags and tab panel element 49 combined and tray folder element 39 and secured thereto as hereinabove described.

A number of package articles according to the invention may advantageously be assembled and enclosed in a bulk carton or shipping container 59 as shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings to facilitate and resolve the practical problems involved in handling, transport, storage and ultimate use. The outer or bulk carton 59 may be provided with a tape or tear strip 61 to facilitate opening at the time of usage.

Drawing FIGS. 4, 1, 2 and 3, viewed sequentially, illustrate the manner in which the package article of the invention is unpacked, opened and disassembled to provide the wicketed stacked bags 13 for use in an automatic or semiautomatic packaging operation. FIG. 4 shows a group of package articles 11 partly removed from a bulk carton 59 which has been opened by the tear strip removal of one end. A unit package article 1 1 as shown in FIG. 1 is removed from the bulk carton group by pulling out on the finger hole 47 of the one selected, usually at the top of the array, and may be carried thus and placed at the installation point. In FIG. 2 the package article is shown with the tapes 53 cut or removed and opened to reveal the tab panel element 49 atop the stacked bags 13. From the FIG. 2 disposition, the bags 13, wicket 31 and tab panel element 49 are slid forward, that is to say towards the viewer, the wicket leg 33 ends are inserted into wicket boss holes on whatever apparatus at the packaging station, the tab member 51 is unfolded from around wicket horizontal portion 37, tab panel element 49 is removed and tray folder element 39 with the liner 57 secured to it is pulled rearward, that is to say away from the viewer of FIG. 3, clear of the wicketed stacked bags 13 now mounted on the packaging station apparatus ready for use. Thus it can be seen that the present invention provides for the unpacking and installation of bags at a use point of a packaging station with only minimal human contact with the bags themselves. Moreover the bags are continuously secured on the wicket all through the unpacking and installation procedures thus materially reducing, if not completely obviating, the chance of accidental spills or drops.

FIG. 5 of the drawings shows a development plan view of a tray folder element 39 die cut or otherwise formed from any suitable carton stock such as for example corrugated paper board. The dimensions of element 39 depend of course on the size and quantity of bags to be packaged but in practice certain criteria or guide lines have been found useful respecting the dimensional relationships amongst flattened bag dimensions, bag stack heights and the cutting and folding dimensions of the inner and outer carton elements.

As shown in the drawings, FIGS. 5 and 6, the dimension L, which is the tray folder element 39 overall length, is the length of one flattened bag plus 6 inches or 15.25 cm; the dimension W, which is the inside width of the tray folder element bottom panel 41, that is between inner surfaces of the outer carton element side panels 43 when the package article is assembled, is the width of one flattened bag plus 1% inches or 3.8 cm for flattened bag widths of from about 4 inches or 10.16 cm up to 6% inches or 16.5 cm and the width of one flattened bag plus 2 inches or 5.1 cm for flattened bag widths over 6% inches or 16.5 cm; the dimension A, which is the width of each of the tray folder element closure panels 45, is equal to one half of the dimension W plus one half the overall width of the wicket 31 being utilized; the dimension B, which is a cutting dimension for the tray folder element closure panels 45, is equal to one half of the dimension W minus one half the overall width of the wicket 31 being utilized plus one half inch or 1.27 cm; the dimension C, which is a cutting dimension for the tray folder element closure panels 45 is variable and depends upon the arcuate shape of the bag open ends relative to particular bag size; the dimensions D and E, which are cutting dimensions for the tray folder element closure panels 45 are variable and depend upon the arcuate shape of the bag closed ends relative to particular bag size. The dimension D may be computed usually as one half of the difference between the dimension W and 4 inches or 10.16 cm and the dimension B may be taken usually as 2 inches or 5.1 cm. The dimension H, which is the inside height of the tray folder element 39 when the package article is assembled, is equal to the bag stack height plus the thickness of the tab panel element 49. The dimension L, which is the length of the tab panel element 49, is approximately equal to the dimension L; the dimension P, which is the width of tab panel element tab member 51, is equal to the overall width of the wicket 31 being utilized minus three fourths of an inch or 1.9 cm; the dimension G, which is a cutting dimension for the tab panel element 49, is equal to one half of the difference between the dimension W and the overall width of the wicket 31 being utilized plus one fourth of an inch or 0.63 cm; and the dimension .1 is equal to 2% inches or 6.35 cm for flattened bag widths of from about 4 inches or 10.16 em up to about 12 inches or 30.5 cm and is equal to 3% inches or 8.9 cm for flattened bag widths of from 12 inches or 30.5 cm up to 18 inches or 45.7 cm.

L flattened bag length 6" (15.25 cm) W flattened bag width 1 /fi" (3.8 cm) for flattened bag widths of 4" to 6 '26 (10.16 cm to 16.5 6

cm) and flattened bag width 2" (5.1 cm) for flattened bag widths over 6 5% (16.5 cm) A %(W wicket width) B /2(W wicket width +1 (2.54 cm)) C variable D variable, usually [W 4" (10.16 cm)/2] E variable, usually 2 (5.1 cm) H bag stack height thickness of tab panel element L L (approximately) F wicket width /1 (1.9 cm) G '76 [W wicket width 7 1 (0.635 cm) 1 J 4 /z (11.43 cm) for flattened bag widths of 4" (10.16 cm) to 12" (30.5 cm) and 5 /z" (13.97 cm) for flattened bag widths of 12" (30.5 cm) to 18" (45.7 cm).

EXAMPLES Several test samples of package articles were made according to ,the present invention, each containing 500 8 X 14 inch flattened plastic bags on an M-shaped wicket. Some of the tray folders and tab folders were made from pound test corrugated board and others from 200 pound test corrugated board. Certain samples were provided with liners and others were not. These samples were tested in handling, shipping, stacking and the like simulated and/or actual conditions. Selected samples were agitated on a shaker table for vibration periods of up to 32 hours. All of the tested samples were found to be in suitable condition for use on automatic bagging apparatus upon opening and unpacking after the tests. The linered samples were found to be in generally better condition than the unlinered samples with respect to the shaker table vibration tests.

The foregoing description and dimensional information is useful and illustrative for the purpose of explaining the invention, but persons familiar with the packaging arts and the carton pattern makers art will, in the light of this disclosure, undoubtedly design alternative carton elements which, when incorporated in an assembled package article, fall within the scope and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that the description be taken as illustrative only and not be construed in any limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A package article comprising, in combination:

a. a multiplicity of flattened stacked flexible packaging bags, each bag having at least one ply provided with wicket holes,

b. a wicket having a center portion disposed to effect bearing contact with a portion of an upper surface of the topmost bag of said multiplicity of bags and having wicket legs extending perpendicularly with respect to said center portion through the wicket holes and projecting beyond the wicket holes in the lower ply of the bottommost bag of the multiplicity of bags,

c. an inner carton element disposed flat atop the multiplicity of flattened stacked bags provided with a tab member folded around a portion of the wicket, and

d. an outer carton element foldably enclosing the bags, the wicket and the inner carton element.

2. A package article according to claim 1 wherein the wicket is disposed in a canted orientation and the flattened stacked bags are imbricated according to the canted orientation of the wicket.

3. A package article according to claim 1 wherein a bag of the multiplicity of bags, liner is interposed between the multiplicity of bags and c. a tab folder element disposed flat atop the multithe carton elements. plicity of flattened stacked bags provided with a tab 4. A package article according to claim 1 wherein a member folded around the wicket center portion, liner is interposed between the assembly of the multiand plicity of bags and the inner carton element and the d. a tray folder element foldably enclosing the bags, outer carton element. the wicket and the tab folder element,

5. A package article comprising, in combination: 6. A package article according to claim 5 wherein the a. a multiplicity of flattened stacked flexible packagwicket is disposed in a canted orientation and the flating bags,each bag havingalower ply provided with 10 tened stacked bags are imbricated according to the wicket holes and an upper ply clear of the wicket canted orientation of the wicket.

holes in the lower ply, 7. A package article according to claim 5 wherein av b. a wicket having a center portion disposed to effect linear is interposed between the multiplicity of bags bearing contact with a portion of the upper surface and the carton elements. of the lower ply of the topmost bag of said multi- 8. A package article according to claim 5 wherein a plicity of bags and having wicket legs extending liner is interposed between the assembly of the multiperpendicularly with respect to said center portion plicity of bags and the inner carton element and the through the wicket holes and projecting beyond the outer carton element. wicket holes in the lower ply of the bottommost

Claims

1. A package article comprising, in combination: a. a multiplicity of flattened stacked flexible packaging bags, each bag having at least one ply provided with wicket holes, b. a wicket having a center portion disposed to effect bearing contact with a portion of an upper surface of the topmost bag of said multiplicity of bags and having wicket legs extending perpendicularly with respect to said center portion through the wicket holes and projecting beyond the wicket holes in the lower ply of the bottommost bag of the multiplicity of bags, c. an inner carton element disposed flat atop the multiplicity of flattened stacked bags provided with a tab member folded around a portion of the wicket, and d. an outer carton element foldably enclosing the bags, the wicket and the inner carton element.

3. A package article according to claim 1 wherein a liner is interposed between the multiplicity of bags and the carton elements.

4. A package article according to claim 1 wherein a liner is interposed between the assembly of the multiplicity of bags and the inner carton element and the outer carton element.

5. A package article comprising, in combination: a. a multiplicity of flattened stacked flexible packaging bags, each bag having a lower ply provided with wicket holes and an upper ply clear of the wicket holes in the lower ply, b. a wicket having a center portion disposed to effect bearing contact with a portion of the upper surface of the lower ply of the topmost bag of said multiplicity of bags and having wicket legs extending perpendicularly with respect to said center portion through the wicket holes and projecting beyond the wicket holes in the lower ply of the bottommost bag of the multiplicity of bags, c. a tab folder element disposed flat atop the multiplicity of flattened stacked bags provided with a tab member folded around the wicket center portion, and d. a tray folder element foldably enclosing the bags, the wicket and the tab folder element.

6. A package article according to claim 5 wherein the wicket is disposed in a canted orientation and the flattened stacked bags are imbricated according to the canted orientation of the wicket.

7. A package article according to claim 5 wherein a linear is interposed between the multiplicity of bags and the carton elements.

8. A package article according to claim 5 wherein a liner is interposed between the assembly of the multiplicity of bags and the inner carton element and the outer carton element.